Georgian tennis player thwarts five match points in Cagliari

Georgia's top tennis player Nikoloz Basilashviliovercame a first-set loss and survived five match points to beat Jozef Kovalik in the second round on the clay courts of the Sardegna Open on Wednesday in Cagliari, Italy.

Despite trailing 3-0 in the final set, the Georgian eventually dispatched Kovalik 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that lasted 2:59.

Basilashvili won the fourth game of the third set and then broke his Slovakian opponent’s serve to get to 2-3, then lost serve and was down 2-4.

He broke Kovalik’s serve again and then won on his own serve to tie 4-4, but Kovalik took the ninth game for a 4-5 advantage. Basilashvili pulled even at 5-5, surviving five match points in a 24-point game. After breaking Kovalik again in the 11th game, Basilashvili cruised without ceding a point in the decisive final game, Reuters reported.